Jean Jacques found guilty in murder of Casey Chadwick

John Barry For The Bulletin

Monday

Apr 11, 2016 at 12:52 PMApr 11, 2016 at 5:26 PM

NEW LONDON — A jury found Jean Jacques guilty of murder Monday, bringing his slain victim’s mother to tears.

Wendy Hartling, one of more than a dozen family members and friends of Casey Chadwick that were present in the courtroom when the verdict was announced shortly before 1 p.m., sobbed and received a hug.

“I just started crying,” Hartling said. She called the jury’s decision “wonderful. They did a wonderful job.”

Jacques is scheduled to be sentenced June 6 by Judge Barbara Jongbloed, who presided over the two-week trial in New London Superior Court. He faces between 25 years and 60 years in prison.

“Casey’s still alive in here,” Hartling said afterward. In court, Hartling wore a sweatshirt that had a photo of her daughter, the dates of Chadwick’s birth and death and the words: “Mom’s angel” and “Justice for Casey.”

“Her friends and family love her and miss her,” Hartling said.

Hartling said she will speak at Jacques’ sentencing and will call for Jacques to receive the maximum sentence.

“I’m glad Casey got the justice she deserved,” said Jamie Koester, who was a foster sister of Chadwick. She wore a T-shirt with Chadwick’s photo on it. “He shouldn’t be the one alive. She should be.”

Jacques, 41, was convicted of fatally stabbing the 25-year-old Norwich woman June 15 in her Spaulding Street apartment in an apparent dispute about drugs belonging to Chadwick’s boyfriend, a drug dealer.

A Norwich resident at the time of the murder, Jacques illegally immigrated to the United States from his native Haiti. In 1996, he was found guilty of an attempted murder in Norwich and spent 17 years in prison.

Jacques was not deported to Haiti when he was released from prison, however.

“He was supposed to be automatically deported,” said Chester Fairlie, an attorney who represents Chadwick’s estate. “ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) had custody of him three times and let him go.”

“If they did their job, we wouldn’t be here, because Casey would be here,” Hartling said.

Fairlie said now that Jacques has been found guilty of murder, “we will be filing a long series of questions to ICE under the Freedom of Information Act.” He said he will then take other steps depending on what he learns about immigration officials’ actions involving Jacques.

The eight men and four women on the jury deliberated for about five hours between Friday afternoon and Monday before finding Jacques guilty.